Sweet Jasmine
by xMrsJamesPotterx
Summary: After a fight with Petunia, Lily goes to stay with James for the summer before seventh year. *Cue shocked faces with theme music attached* ? R
1. Rain

'FINE THEN!' screamed Lily at her equally furious older sister. She stormed upstairs and within 10 minutes had packed her trunk and left what used to be her home, for good. As soon as she was out of the house, panic overtook her. Where would she go next? Her mind wandered hurriedly over the possible places. The Leaky Cauldron? No, she didn't want to be alone, and too dangerous, as she was muggle born…

Rosa's house? She'd be off on some luxurious and expensive holiday, with her fabulously rich and fussy mother. Marlene's or Alice's? Also on holiday. Lily suddenly remembered what James had said to her, as they were getting off the train, only a few days ago.

'_If you want to visit me over the holidays, or perhaps stay, then I live in Lytes Cary Manor, Charlton Mackrell, Somerset. So look me up Lily-bean' _

She remembered teasing him about living in a Manor House, and assured him, somewhat cruelly maybe, that she would definitely NOT come. With a sudden surge of remorse, his hurt face clouded her eyes.

She and James were…_cordial_… towards each other. They had stopped going for each others throats at least. Given the circumstances, she felt he was the only person she could go to. She couldn't intrude on Remus and his parents, it was full moon…

It goes against all my morals, thought Lily. Then again, my morals could be wrong…

* * *

As Lily was not of age, she could not apparate, so she would have to take the Knight Bus. Reluctantly, she stuck out her right arm. Almost instantly a neon, purple, double decker bus flashed out of thin air, almost knocking Lily off her feet. A portly conductor appeared and leered at her as she staggered onto the bus with her heavy trunk.

'Where to?' inquired the conductor, speaking more to her chest than her face.

'Charlton Mackrell' replied Lily coldly and dug some coins out of her jeans pocket.

The bus hurtled forward, weaving through the busy streets of London. It was soon in the cold, clear air of the countryside, the darkness of the night growing stronger against the fading lights of the city.

The conductor stomped upstairs, muttering something about 'girls these days' and 'frigid'.

Lily smirked and looked around the vacant bus. Obviously few wizarding folk dared to travel now, for fear of attack from death eaters. She noticed an abandoned _Prophet _lying on a bed. She unfolded it and the headline blared into view

**MUGGLE DEATH TOLL RISES**

Even more muggles, all over Britain, are being tortured and killed at the hands of He Who Must Not Be Named and his so called 'Death Eaters'. 60 new cases have sprung up this week along with wizarding deaths that leave the wizarding community almost without hope. The collapsement of two apartment buildings contributed greatly to the muggle death number, which stands at 1,000. The Ministry is expecting another mass muggle murder soon, but there is little they can do to prevent it. You Know Who continues to strike fear, and a sense of hopelessness into the wizarding world.

Lily scrunched up the paper and threw it violently into the corner. Lord Voldemort was the reason her kind, gentle, loving parents were dead. Their deaths were the reason Tuney and I were arguing thought Lily bitterly. Tuney hates me even more now she knows the real reason for our parents' death. At the hands of cruel, merciless Lord Voldemort.

The bus abruptly shuddered to a halt beside a signpost that read:

**WELCOME TO CHARLTON MACKRELL**

Thank you for driving safely through our village

Little chance of that when the Knight Bus is around, thought Lily wryly. It was drizzling with grey rain. The twisting country lanes were edged with dark, ominous looking box hedges. Lily sighed and plodded off through the downpour, dragging her trunk behind her.

* * *

Lily stared at the house, scared to begin her descent down the gravel path. She slowly pushed open the gate and took a few shuffling steps, shivering at every one. The rain had gotten through her clothes and her skin felt icy cold. It seemed to take an age to get to the door, where Lily leant against the wall, breathing heavily, trying to get over her nervousness and work up the courage to knock on _James Potter's _door. She had hated him for 6 years, yet here she was, about to knock on his door and ask if she could stay. She couldn't do it; she couldn't bring herself to see the triumphant 'I told you so' look on his face. She turned away from the door, but as she did, the door creaked open and a soft, lined face peered out…

'Oh goodness gracious me, Come out of the rain deary!'

Lily was ushered in to an entrance hall by a short plump woman, wearing a flowery apron and whose hands were covered in flour.

'Lily Evans? Yes I thought so; James has told us all about you'. The woman smiled and took Lily's trunk from her icy fingers.

The woman must have been in her mid sixties, but age suited her. She had soft silver hair, drawn back into a loose bun, with a few wispy bits around her pixie-like ears. The lines on her face were soft, only deep around her mouth which was in a constant smile.

She beckoned Lily to follow her into a Great Hall that was lit with many tall beeswax candles and a huge roaring fire, that sparkled blue and purple from dried driftwood, and gave off a delicious aroma.

'Lets get you out of those wet things, I expect your trunk is wet through too'

LIly could only nod and mutter her thanks. Her lips seemed frozen together. Her vision was hazy from cold. The rest of that evening was a bur of the woman's bright chatter and flickering golden glows from candlelight. Lily suddenly found herself between clean, warm sheets and drifting off into a deep sleep...


	2. Honeysuckle

James Potter walked slowly into the kitchen, when the early morning sunshine was just beginning to creep through the windows. His mother smiled at him and continued setting the table for breakfast.

'Oh James dear, you're up early?'

James turned his face towards her. It was filled with a bewildered happiness, he couldn't keep the grin off his face, yet something was confusing him.

'Mum…What is Lily Evans doing in our spare bedroom?'

Lily woke to see faded golden sunlight streaming through the crack in the heavy brocade curtains. She forgot where she was for a moment the remembered and held her hand to her mouth in horror. _James Potters house. _She shakily swung herself out of bed and got dressed hurriedly. She wandered tentatively through the door, to find Mrs Potter standing there holding out her hand.

'Did you sleep well dear?'

Lily nodded and took her hand. Mrs Potter led Lily down what seemed many corridors and staircases and doors that looked like ordinary walls. She suddenly found herself in a light, airy kitchen, with a gramophone whirring, playing old wartime songs. A tall, balding man had _The Daily Prophet _spread out on the table and was shaking his head and grimacing.

'Another death…this is just awful Rose…'

He appeared not to notice me but his head snapped up and he smiled warmly.

'Oh hello! You must be Lily? Yes, James never shuts up about you!'

Lily blushed at the mention of _his _name.

'Thanks for having at such short notice…I won't be a bother…I just didn't know who else to go to…'

They nodded and thankfully didn't ask any questions. They seemed to realise that Lily wasn't ready to talk about why she had suddenly turned up, soaked to the skin, on their doorstep late at night.

'Have some breakfast dear?'

Lily was jerked out of her trance by Mrs Potter's kind, inquisitive tone. Lily absentmindedly took a piece of warm, freshly baked bread at chewed it thoughtfully.

'Thanks very much, this bread is delicious Mrs Potter'

'Oh thank you! I bake it every day, Charlus and James are very picky about their bread, and please call me Rose'

'I am not picky!' said Charlus Potter indignantly and Rose hit him lightly on his mop of untidy black hair. He grinned sheepishly; Lily was reminded of James's crooked grin. She stifled a giggle at their behaviour; they were adults but had all the best qualities of children.

'So Lily, you are muggle born, yes?' asked Charlus. Lily looked at him, a little apprehensive; he couldn't be anti-muggle could he? She nodded slowly.

'Oh good, finally someone can tell me how a gramophone works, I've been dying to find out!'

Lily repressed a chuckle and started to explain, when a door creaked open and shut softly.

'Hey Lily…' came a soft voice.

'James!' Lily stood up suddenly and found her cheeks growing hot. He was wearing a thin white t-shirt that stretched over his chiselled stomach, the contours of his abs showing through the stretchy material. His hair was as messy as usual and he had a sort of dazed look on his face, as if he could not quite believe what he was seeing. Lily repressed a gasp at the sight of him. For some reason all she wanted to do was kiss him senseless. She shook her head slightly and tried to concentrate on _not _thinking about him. But it was proving to be very hard, since he had taken the seat opposite. She had the feeling he was watching her from under the tuft of hair that had fallen over his face. She blushed again and looked away from him, toward the streak of cornflower blue sky she could see through the high windows.

'James, I was thinking you could show Lily the garden this morning, it is nicest this time of year and we've had some early apples'

Once they had finished breakfast, James led Lily shyly out to a small path that led to a gap in a tall dark box hedge. They walked through the gap, in an awkward silence and came through to the most amazing gardens Lily had ever seen. There were two "rooms", the first framed with the same box hedge and a wider gap on the left hand side. The second "room" was edged with different plants and flowers, their jewel colours glinting and sparkling with dew. In the middle of the second "room" stood a weathered sandy coloured statue with a single sunflower blooming at its peak.

James smiled at her stunned expression and murmured softly

'There's more'

He led her to another room, flowers creeping up against the sandy walls of the house. This room was sunken at the end and had a pedestal in the middle with an urn on it that had a mass of brightly coloured pansies sprouting from the urns mouth. The bottom of this room was half oval and fringed with bowed flowers, their jewel tinted faces looking down at the green earth. Lily gasped; it was even more beautiful than the first. She turned to James

'Its beautiful James, nothing could compare to it'

'I know someone that could outshine it, even when it is at its best…' He coloured a little and looked away.

'Well, nothing I have ever seen could compare to this'

'You've obviously never looked in a mirror then Lily'

It was Lily's turn to blush and she walked to another gap in the hedge. On her right was a small, weathered, oaken door. She came to a tiny passage way, with Jasmine overhanging the door and glossy emerald leaves everywhere. She breathed in the cool clear air; she could smell the heady scent of Jasmine. She walked slowly through the open door and caught a whiff of a new scent, the treacly smell of honeysuckle. She lingered in the door way, caught in a dreamy haze of the two sweet scents. She closed her eyes and drifted away…


	3. Hey Soul Sister

**Hey! I am so sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been a lazy bum, as usual :)  
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this next installment of 'Sweet Jasmine', keep reading and reviewing :)  
A special thanks to** americangirl90038 **who persuaded me to get off my ass and update :) **

"Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains  
I knew I wouldn't forget you  
And so I went and let you blow my mind  
Your sweet moonbeam  
The smell of you in every single dream I dream  
I knew when we collided you're the one I have decided  
Who's one of my kind"

Hey Soul Sister- Train

She had stopped right in front of him. She was rolling her head backwards, tilting her face towards the sunlight, drunk with the scent. He stared at the way the sunlight made her hair glint. A soft breeze caught a few silky strands, wafting the fruity perfume of her hair towards James. He longed to touch it, to see if it felt like it looked. He tentatively reached out a hand, his fingers trembling. A few strands whipped against his skin. Wait…what? He wanted to stroke her hair? Knowing Lily as he did, James thought she would not appreciate being treated like a pet. What was he thinking?! He tapped her lightly on the shoulder, and, a few seconds later got an even better sight before his eyes. Her face, gazing adoringly up at his, her sparkling green eyes locked on his tawny hazel ones.

All he could hear was their haggard breathing, time seemed to have stopped. The world could have come crashing down around them, consumed by fire, washed away by water, and they still would never have noticed.

'I…I can't seem them Charlus! Do something in the name of Merlin?!'

Rose Potter was spying on her son and that pretty Lily girl. She peered out of the window that overlooked the divide between the croquet lawn and the kitchen gardens.

'Rose…'

'What if they've had another argument? James can't bear much more of that, and Charlus, she seems like a nice girl but redheads are known for their fiery temper!'

'Like you, for example?'

'I guess I was the exception' Rose smiled sweetly, poison dripping from every word.

Charlus, seeing that Rose was a second away from blowing her top, hastily wrapped his arms around her waist. She relaxed into his embrace and sighed against his chest.

'I'm just worried about him Charlus, he's my only child'.

He was looking at her with an odd expression on his face and some kind of hopeless sadness in his eyes. She blushed and bit her lip.

'Sorry, I sort of drifted away there…'

'Its ok, it happens to me all the time in here'

'It's…heaven…It's the most beautiful thing on earth'

James shook his head, but kept silent, he knew from past experience that admitting his feelings for Lily out loud never resulted in anything good.

They walked forward in silence, soaking in the golden sunshine and the thick perfume of lavender.

They enetered another room, the corners of it full to the brim with lavender shrubs, emitting a faint buzz, a rippling with the movement of hundreds of tiny, fuzzy bees lowering the heads to suck the sweet juice of the lavender. They walked down a long pathway on the left of the lavender garden to a bone-white love seat at the far end. They sat down in a nervous silence on James's part. He didn't know what to say to the beautiful red head, who had previously scorned him in the past, but for reason, had turned up at his house in the dead of night, with no word of warning and no explanation. He decided to ask the blunt question, hopefully, receiving an answer that didn't involve her shouting at him and leaving. Fortunately, she couldn't use her wand, but Lily was never a sticker for rules when it came to James.

'Why did you come here?'

Lily was jerked out of her reverie by the question she wasn't ready to answer to her friends, let alone James.

'Er…well you made me an invitation and I thought it would be rude not to accept.'

James nodded not wanting to push her but looked away. Lily felt a wave of dishonesty, she should at least tell him the truth, and she was a guest in his house. She touched him on the arm,

'James…I'm sorry, that was a pathetic excuse' She smiled, the irony. Calling herself pathetic, to a boy she used to hate. 'The real reason is that my…my parents…my parents died' she choked on a sob, hastily covering it up with a cough, she didn't cry. Not anymore. He didn't say anything, he tried to look comforting, but he was never good at that sort of thing.

'And my sister, she blamed me for their death, and the worst part of it is that I can understand why. If I had never have got my letter, then they would never have been killed…I just wish…' she looked at the earth, willing herself not to cry. She took a few deep breaths and stood up, a fake cheeriness in her voice

'Show me the rest of your garden then?'

They walked down the walkway again, a kind of unspoken truce between them. Just for this summer, they could forget their prejudices and be proper friends. Lily reached for James's hand and smiled at him, thrown off her guard a little at the way the merest touch of his fingers scorched her skin, the way his smile made her heart flutter and her mind glow.

He stopped and faced her, grabbing both of her hands and looking at her solemnly.

'I have the best part to show you, you think the other parts of the garden are beautiful, wait 'til you've seen this. Now close your eyes…and no peeking!'

'Not even a little bit?' She laughed.

'No!' She smiled and closed her eyes tightly 'Good…'

He looked at her face, scrunched up tightly with the effort of keeping her eyes closed. She was so beautiful; it hurt to look at her, to know she would never ever be his. A light breeze played with strands of her auburn hair, wafting it in her face. He lifted up a hand to stroke it back from her face, but checked himself just in time. _Don't get in too deep _he told himself. Bit too late for that.

He placed a hand on the small of her back, and steered her through a gap in the hedge, into the orchard.


End file.
